Blog / Vlog

I was listening to Gala Darling's talk on Instagram Stories yesterday and was inspired to write down things that make me happy in 4 categories: Mental, Emotional, Physical, Spiritual.

Feel free to make a list yourself of a few things in each category that just make you happy and use this list to enrich your life.

Some examples from my list:

Play Ukulele (Emotional)

Dance / Oula / Stretching (Physical)

Spend Time In Nature (Mental)

Sleep (Physical)

Quality Time With Nick (Emotional)

Meditation, Energy Management, Ritual (Spiritual)

Make it pretty and hang it somewhere near your front door to help remind you to give yourself those things. Do not use to make yourself feel bad about things you don't do on the list, simply to remind yourself of those simple things that keep your life uplifted.

Another item on my list was "Mindful Tea Breaks." Rather than simply making cup after cup unceremoniously I want to bring little more ritual back into making my tea. This is a great way to enhance something that I'm already doing, rather than adding another thing to the list.

We humans have many rituals - but what separates them from habits? What is the difference between the two? When I drink tea as a vehicle of caffeine, it looses the ritual. It becomes almost a reflex, lacking the heart behind it. But this may not be the case for all....

Mini Tangent: This makes me think of my time spent in Italy. Their ritual (habit?) of "predere un caffé" at the bar. Not to go, not in a rush. To be fair "un caffé" means you'll get an espresso. There are many articles about ordering coffee correctly in Italy, illustrating how you can give yourself away as a tourist all too easily. Also, a bar is a coffee shop. And a café is a bar with more food. At least to the best of my memory...

The Italian ritual of coffee may be more habit, but who am I to say? It's a cultural thing. I'd argue it's a bit more ritual because people connect over it. To bring more heart into my own tea ritual (and sometimes I do "predere un caffé,") I want to make my cups or pots of tea with intentions. Bringing a moment of mindfulness to the tea I make will not only add ritual to my day, but this will help me stay connected to my purpose and connected to my heart. Finding a moment to tune in more deeply to what I am feeling, and allowing myself to stay in that space for a few moments, without working.

I tend to get so caught up in the doing doing doing, and granted there is a lot. But as they say, we all have the same hours in the day as [ insert fave. celebrity here ]. So choosing wisely to what we put our focus is immensely important.

Taking these moments to change how I go through my day, I anticipate, will have lovely ripple effects.

If you make a list let me know in the comments! Remember to use it to find things you LOVE not things you think you need to be doing and add more stress. Things that bring you joy!